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Multilingual America: Transnationalism, Ethnicity, and the Languages of American Literature

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Werner Sollors' critical anthology is a timely contribution to the relatively new multicultural self-image of America. On the historical side, it reminds us of the fact that, until about 1920, "American Literature" was understood as "literature written in the U.S.A.",in a variety of languages other than English, and that these works were also included in the anthologies and histories of American Literature. Authored by international and American scholars, the book's essays trace the development towards "English only" over the past seven decades, provide enligthening - and often entertaining - examples of novels, stories, poems and plays written in German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Spanish, Yiddish, and other languages, and present the reader with a fascinating mosaic of America's truly multicultural literary heritage. With regard to the contemporary situation in an age of rapidly growing globalization, Sollors' introduction points to the somewhat paradoxical fact that, in spite of the new multicultural understanding of American society, the number of Americans who speak any language other than English is in constant decline. Reminding us of the fact that language always transports cultural values, Sollors' proposal for the preservation of America's rich multicultural heritage is "English plus" (another language). This idea may not make him many friends among the contemporary "English only" movements in several regions of the U.S., but it certainly appears to be a viable way towards a serious practice of multiculturalism.